Sitting in the car, Gu Nianbin asked seriously, "Now tell me. Why did you walk away alone?"
Du Xiaoxian lowered her head and bit her lips. Blood seeped from the cut lips into her mouth. It tasted sweet.
She didn"t expect that she caused so much trouble for the young master and even bothered the police.
She didn"t expect the young master was so angry either. She was a fool. No wonder no one liked her. No wonder she had no friends.
Now even the young master wouldn"t like her. She was a nit, simply mindless. If she told the young master or Xiaoding beforehand, things would not be like this.
So many people, including the headmaster, were bothered to look for her. How could she have the nerve to go to school tomorrow? The young master used his connections to send her to school, but...look at what she had done.
Du Xiaoxian felt so guilty that even her guts were twisted and her body further shrank.
"Speak."
Gu Nianbin pulled down the car window and let the breeze in.
After explaining the case to the traffic policeman, he drove to the river levee, which was shady and quiet with big trees. The wind on the river slowly breezed over, bringing the moist and pleasant air into his nose.
He often drove here to stay for a while during depression and the river breeze would disperse his bad mood.
Now he was extremely depressed. She was under his gaze every day, but he didn"t know every of her thoughts.
She was so simple that he could read her mind easily. Still, he didn"t detect her plan.
Was it because he ignored it, or she concealed it well?
The stifling air in the car made Du Xiaoxian bow her head all the time. However, she couldn"t keep silent as the young master asked her twice in a row.
Although fl.u.s.tered and panicked, she stammered to explain her thoughts clearly to Gu Nianbin.
Gu Nianbin found her thoughts both funny and annoying. It turned out that the little girl was trying to save his times for dating. Did she want to be independent of him?
He planned to made her an independent woman by sending her to school. But before he was ready to let her go, she was trying to be on her own.
"Do you think you are a trouble to me?"
Still a deep voice, but not as cold as before.
Du Xiaoxian sneaked a glance at him. His sights were still cold. She was frightened and turned down her eyes immediately.
She spoke haltingly, "I, I want you to have a happy family. They all said you have long pa.s.sed the age for marriage…"
Long pa.s.sed the age...Gu Nianbin"s face further darkened, "Am I that old?"
The voice was much colder now ... as if he was somewhat depressed. Du Xiaoxian"s heart tightened up, but she managed to raise her head to look at him and said softly, "You look very young."
That was pleasant to hear. Gu Nianbin felt better and then realized something weird in her words. Did she mean he was actually old?
Without rhyme or reason, he heard himself saying, "I"m thirty-two years old."
Actually many of his friends got married at 35 or above. He believed he still had enough time to find a soulmate if the five-year engagement failed.
His honest confession only shocked Du Xiaoxian who didn"t expect such an old age. With the corner of his mouth quivering, Gu Nianbin patiently explained to her, "Xiaoxian, 32 is not an old age here. Many men of this age are not married."
Du Xiaoxian blinked and said, "You are not old at all. You are four years younger than my uncle!"
"Your uncle is..."
"The husband of my aunt."
The corner of his mouth quivered again. Du Xiaoxian, are you really comforting me?
Gu Nianbin didn"t want to continue on this topic. They had spent so much time on his age before getting down to the business.
He was afraid of scaring her again by further reproaching. After a while of silence, he said, "It"s alright this time. Don"t make such mistakes next time."
Du Xiaoxian nodded obediently, "Sir, I am sorry. I will tell you or Xiaoding in advance wherever I go in future."
"It"s none of his business."
"Just tell me," said Gu Nianbin unpleasantly.
He paused and then said, "I told you that the world is not safe for a girl like you. What if you run into a bad guy? This is a big city. What if you get lost? You"re still a kid. Just take my words and don"t worry about others. Get it?"
"I see."
Du Xiaoxian nodded earnestly, "Sir, don"t worry. I know the way." She pointed to the street on the right and said, "Walk along the street and turn left at the end and then we"ll be at home.
I won"t be lost.
I can go to school by bus."
Gu Nianbin was stunned. Did she still decide to go to school on her own after all this taking?
"What if you run into bad guys?"
"This won"t happen. People barely know me. Why do they bully me? Even if they do, I will run away. I run very fast. They can"t catch me." Du Xiaoxian smiled.
"You run very fast?" Gu Nianbin looked at her.
"That"s right," said Du Xiaoxian proudly. "Once I was a little far away from home and some kids threw stones at me. I ran away at once and not a single stone reached me.
My aunt said that I ran faster than a rabbit."
Gu Nianbin recalled the early days of her working in the Gu mansion. She ran away whenever seeing him. She did run fast, sometimes disappearing from his sights like a flash.
"Sir?"
Du Xiaoxian called him, a little bit concerned with his silence.
"Do you really want to go to school by yourself?"
"Yes."
Du Xiaoxian nodded affirmatively.
"What if I disagree?"
Gu Nianbin raised his eyebrows and deliberately lowered his voice.
Du Xiaoxian quivered and lowered her head. After a while, she opened her mouth and mumbled, "Sir, don"t be unreasonable."
She had the guts to accuse him of being unreasonable?
"Then I"m unreasonable."
"Anyway, I have already told you that I will go to school by myself in the future."
Her voice was still timid, but also unyielding.
Well, she was playing this card again.
Gu Nianbin sighed and felt frustrated looking at this delicate frail girl. There was actually nothing he could do about her!
"Alright," he conceded, "but you have to promise that you won"t be in any trouble."
"I promise!"
The little girl raised her right hand seriously.
Gu Nianbin held her small hand and then released immediately. He looked down at her, "Then I will leave you alone in the future."
"I will take care of myself. Don"t worry, sir."
Gu Nianbin carelessly said "H"m" and started the car.
The sunset glow dyed the land into faint red. Du Xiaoxian placed her hand against the window and looked out at the boats on the river. The red glow covered her face like rosy blusher, glittering and translucent.
Gu Nianbin withdrew his gaze and stomped heavily on the accelerator. The car raced out like a rocket.
Du Xiaoxian was caught off guard and knocked forward. She was saved from a swelling on head by the seat belt.
She turned to Gu Nianbin in panic, only to find a poker face, with a flash of light in his eyes.
Did he smile? It disappeared so quickly that Du Xiaoxian wasn"t sure of it.
As Xiaoding called the mansion, the master and her ladyship both knew that Du Xiaoxian was lost.
When Gu Nianbin explained the whole thing after getting back, her ladyship said, "It"s really not appropriate for a maid to use the young master"s car.
Xiaoxian was right."
His father Gu Guangxian took a sip of tea and said, "She is sensible at such a young age. Ask butler Xiao to take care of her in the future."
Since Gu Nianbin was the cause of her missing, Fang Yaru took the chance to mention his date, "Nianbin, shall we invite Xiaowan to dinner tomorrow? You weren"t at home when she came to visit last time.
You must be satisfied with her as you brought her to the banquet. Date her more to learn about her merits."
Gu Nianbin quietly gazed at the bone porcelain teacup with the golden rim in his hand.
"Hey! I"m talking to you!"
"Even Xiaoxian was anxious about your marriage. How could you be so unconcerned? Don"t let her down." Fang Yaru became impatient seeing her son"s reaction.
Gu Nianbin answered perfunctorily and turned aside the topic by asking, "What"s the time for dinner? I"m hungry."
He successfully diverted his mother"s attention. She immediately asked butler Xiao to serve the dinner. It was rare for her son to go home for dinner. How could he be left hungry?
The next morning, butler Xiao gave Du Xiaoxian the money and card. "Her ladyship permitted me to pay you half of your salary in advance. This is 200 yuan in cash. The rest is in the card. Here is a bus card. Swipe it on the card reader at the front of the bus.
Get it? "
Du Xiaoxian nodded and took the money and card carefully.
Butler Xiao sent her out and said, "Come back early after school. Don"t make us worry about you."
"I see," Du Xiaoxian said softly, "Uncle Xiao, it won"t happen again."
Butler Xiao smiled at her gently, "Fine. Go ahead. Take care of yourself."
Du Xiaoxian returned a smile to butler Xiao. Chin up and chest out, she then turned around and left.
Xiao Bonian did not turn back until she got out of the iron gate. He then accidentally caught a figure standing by the window on the second floor. He didn"t examine further but knew who it was.
Nevertheless... he felt slightly uneasy. Only by a quick glance right now he could tell that Gu Nianbin gazed at Du Xiaoxian with unusual expression in his eyes. Being over fifty years old, he certainly knew what that expression meant.
In fact, he noticed that Gu Nianbin treated Du Xiaoxian differently ever since she was injured...
He had been working in the Gu mansion for decades and witnessed the growth of Gu Nianbin. He knew his temperament the best.
President Gu was known to be cold-faced and stony-hearted. But he knew it was not the truth.
He was truly ruthless in the business world. But he was rather persistent and affectionate when it came to affections. His everlasting love of Xia Xiaowan for more than ten years was a proof. Butler Xiao had never seen such an infatuated person before.
It would be good if any woman could stop Gu Nianbin"s obsession with Xia Xiaowan. Butler Xiao would definitely be extremely grateful to that woman. But that woman couldn"t be Du Xiaoxian. Absolutely not! Xiao Bonian shook his head, hoping that he was overreacting.